After the 2018 Valentine’s Day Massacre at Parkland High School we travelled once again to Washington DC to participate in the March for Our Lives demonstration in support of the survivors and out of respect to the children and adults killed in yet another terrorist attack on our public schools. My intention was to post something about this inspiring event in Washington, but after many attempts, I soon discovered that I was wholly inadequate for the task. This was not mere writer’s block. Not only is my vocabulary insufficient to convey the true spirit of what I experienced that day, my aged brain could not seem to gather together the congruent confluence of thematic elements necessary to impart satisfactorily the requisite emotional dichotomy. I struggled in vain!
As the days passed in acute frustration, outside events began to close in, and when I heard both Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan declare that there would be no gun bills considered this year, I was convinced that with such wise and bold leadership, America can at last breathe a sigh of relief, all is well, we are in good hands, We are Great Again and I can abandon all thoughts of civic duty and turn my attention to my well deserved leisure activities. Sarcasm, they say, is the easiest form of humor and I plead guilty, so shoot me!
I needed a break from the bullshit and I took it. Several folks have asked me why I haven’t posted in a while and I had not the courage to admit that my cognitive dissonance was overtaking me at a pace I found disconcerting. Despite his weird methodology and his obvious shortcomings, 45 is getting stuff done. Taxes cut, check. Conservative judges appointed, check. North Korea, check, sorta, maybe. Economy, check. Job Growth, check. Environmental Regulations Reversed, check! It is enough to make a left-leaning redneck bang his head against every wall he encounters. How is this possible? Why does this bother me so? I think I may have a partial answer.
Time for another trip in the way back machine!
This is James Dobson, longtime leader of Focus on the Family, a conservative, evangelical organization dedicated to promoting “Family Values”.
In September 1998, while on vacation, he penned a letter to his followers. It is a lengthy letter, but in our current dilemma, I think it worthy of a look. Here are some excerpts.
“Toward the end of our trip, however, we were shocked and dismayed by the admission of the President’s affair with “that woman — Miss Lewinsky” — which brought humiliation on himself, his family and our nation… What has alarmed me throughout this episode has been the willingness of my fellow citizens to rationalize the President’s behavior even after they suspected, and later knew, that he was lying…. We heard it time and again during those months: “As long as Mr. Clinton is doing a good job, it’s nobody’s business what he does with his personal life….”
“As it turns out, character DOES matter. You can’t run a family, let alone a country, without it. How foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world! Nevertheless, our people continue to say that the President is doing a good job even if they don’t respect him personally. Those two positions are fundamentally incompatible. In the Book of James the question is posed, “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring” (James 3:11 NIV). The answer is no.”
In June of 2016 when Mr. Dobson endorsed 45 he said this:
“I liked that he promised us emphatically that he will work to protect our religious liberties. He has since released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees that is stellar. We must pray that, if elected, he will keep his word.”
I guess if you get the Supreme Court you want, character DOESN’T count quite as much as it did in 1998.
Presidential elections are never the binary choice we tend to think they are. There are usually multiple names on the ballot and you are free to select as you see fit, you can even write in a name if you so desire, but Mr. Dobson saw it this way:
“Last week, I had an appointment with an ophthalmologist for a routine eye exam. A technician pressed a metal device against my face. I looked through two holes and saw a short line of type. She then asked, “Is this good?” Then, after changing the lens, she asked, “Is this better?” I was given only two choices: number one or number two.”
Sounds like 45’s best qualification for the highest office in the land is that he’s not Hillary. He summed up his ringing endorsement with this jewel.
“If Trump turns out to be an incorrigible demagogue, we can hope he will be reined in by the political process. There are checks and balances in our system of government.”
WE CAN HOPE? When does the reining in begin? Where are the checks and balances?
This is me taking off the gloves and pissing off my right wing friends; remember you asked me post again. Besides, I don’t think any of these are even open for debate.
- Our President is a narcissist!
- Our President is a serial adulterer!
- Our President is liar!
- Our President is racist!
- Our President is demagogue!
- Our President is misogynist!
- Our President is sexual predator!
Shall I go on? You get the point.
Mr. Dobson, are these the values you are describing when you say we must instill values in our children upon which their future lives will be built? You lamented the acceptance of the betrayal of honor and principle in 1998. Why then did you capitulate in 2016?
If character counted in 1998, why does it not count now? Is it the goal that as long I get from a President the tax cut I want, the Supreme Court I want, my religious beliefs installed as government policy, then I can happily overlook the moral bankruptcy of the man that provides me what I want? This feels like a slippery slope because it is a slippery slope.
This is one great piece of work from Bill Shakespeare. If I have used it before, get over it!
“What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute’s mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a toy?
For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?
Are we now selling eternity to get a toy?